This is not a book to be read all at once. It is too powerful.
Poetry is our highest form of language. It uses symbol, metaphor, simile, sounds, and so forth to express that for which plain language is inadequate. It allows us to rise above the limitations of direct meaning, to convey the unspeakable luminescence and gravity of life. In this notable collection, poet and activist Carolyn Forche has gathered poems that personalize and humanize war and devastation of the 20th Century. Though she was limited by the availability of some sources -- there are very few Asian works, for example -- and she missed the end of the century by publishing in 1993, this is still a collection of stunning breadth and depth. As you read these 140-plus articulations of terror and sorrow, joy and loss, you will be giving voice to the unspeakable, and you will experience a great lightness and heaviness of heart. I have owned this book since it first came out and I still cannot look into it without being moved.
-Recommended by Mr. Richard Smith (PRHS English Teacher)
Poetry is our highest form of language. It uses symbol, metaphor, simile, sounds, and so forth to express that for which plain language is inadequate. It allows us to rise above the limitations of direct meaning, to convey the unspeakable luminescence and gravity of life. In this notable collection, poet and activist Carolyn Forche has gathered poems that personalize and humanize war and devastation of the 20th Century. Though she was limited by the availability of some sources -- there are very few Asian works, for example -- and she missed the end of the century by publishing in 1993, this is still a collection of stunning breadth and depth. As you read these 140-plus articulations of terror and sorrow, joy and loss, you will be giving voice to the unspeakable, and you will experience a great lightness and heaviness of heart. I have owned this book since it first came out and I still cannot look into it without being moved.
-Recommended by Mr. Richard Smith (PRHS English Teacher)